


Maybe...

by copper_leaf



Series: Naruto Rare Pair Event 2019 [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, rarepairbingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 12:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19132096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copper_leaf/pseuds/copper_leaf
Summary: Shisui returns from a mission beyond exhausted.





	Maybe...

**Author's Note:**

> For the Naruto rare pair event 2019
> 
> Board A: pining | Board B: Itachi | C: Shisui
> 
> It was going to be 'bestfriends turned lovers' but something went a bit sideways.

“Have you ever thought about it?”

Itachi, neatly placing the empty dango stick down on the plate, gave Shisui a look. “Thought about what?”

“Marriage.”

There was a moment of stillness before he gave his answer: “I try not to.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry,” Shisui sighed, deflating. His head came to rest on the table, tiredness rolling through him in waves. The sake didn’t help. Two days’ rest might restore him, but he was putting off going home in favour of seeing Itachi. He’d missed his friend sorely in the seven weeks he’d been away, although he was sure Itachi hadn’t missed him quite as much, and probably wasn’t impressed by the grubby, unshaven creature currently keeping him company.

Almost two months was a long time to be away. Shisui wondered what he’d missed.

“Your parents finally making plans then?”

He heard Itachi pick up the last stick of dango. “The subject has been broached.”

Shisui grunted, too tired to make sense of how he felt to hear that. He wasn’t sure he felt anything at all, or maybe he hoped he didn’t feel anything. More sake might help, but that would involve sitting up again, and his whole body seemed to be made of lead.

“Will you make it home?” Itachi asked.

Would he? Shisui wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want Itachi to worry. “Yeah,” he decided.

“Did you really come straight to find me again?”

‘Again’. Always.

“You’re my best friend, where else would I go after a mission like that?” Shisui wondered.

Itachi was silent, still. It was just for the briefest of moments, but Shisui noticed it and worried he’d said the wrong thing.

And then Itachi relaxed, finishing his food and pushing the plate aside when he was done. “Come, I’ll see you safely home.”

Shisui didn’t protest. Weeks of fatigue bore down on him, making it hard to pick himself up, his movements slow and heavy as he reached for the bottle of sake – he’d paid for it, so he was going to have it – but he managed to make it out into the street unaided. Itachi, close already, moved even closer, and the last of Shisui’s strength tried to flee as a strong, slender arm wrapped around his waist, supporting him.

Maybe he’d had a bad reaction to the sake. One cup shouldn’t leave him feeling like this, so worn down and emotional, pulled apart by Itachi’s steady presence. Maybe he’d been drugged.

Or maybe, just maybe, he was homesick not for a place, but for a person, and he’d spent so long denying the longing he wasn’t prepared for the full force of it. He had friends, yes, but none of them like Itachi. No one was like Itachi.

It felt like he was dreaming already.

Reality faded into the surreal, the only constant Itachi’s presence by his side as Shisui somehow found himself in his own, cold home. The lights picked out odd details he’d forgotten, the world tilting a little as he tried to reach his bed. He landed on it, guided there by Itachi, and felt gentle hands pull away the outer layers of his clothing, stripping him down to his t-shirt and underwear.

“You need to stop taking these missions,” he heard Itachi say.

Did he? There was a reason for them, wasn’t there? A purpose behind it all, behind the weeks and week away. Of course there was. Shisui laughed as he remembered it now, and realised he’d failed yet again.

Maybe next time with a longer mission he’d finally manage to distance himself from what he felt, forget that homesickness that always pulled him right back to Itachi’s side.

Maybe next time he could forget just how much he loved a man he could never have.

**Author's Note:**

> I really love this pairing? I might write more...


End file.
